Exercise programs undertaken by individuals, such as walking, jogging, bicycling, and the like have been growing in popularity in recent years. Such individuals during the course of such a jog/cycling many times desire to have periodic fluid intake, such as having a drink of water, to quench a thirst. Having a conveniently available source of such a fluid, such as a portable water bottle carried by a person or storably mounted on a bicycle for example, is very desirable.
Many current versions of such fluid containers are merely plastic bottles with a cap covering an opening area for dispensing of the fluid, some containing flexible straws affixable to the opening. However, when such containers are holstered to a jogger's waist, for example, they have a tendency to slosh water in partially filled bottles with each stride, lessening the enjoyment of the run and even interrupting concentration.
Other ways of dispensing fluids in a container involve well-known pressurized containers such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,310 issued to Steiman, involving a hand-held type aerosol dispenser including a bag which communicates with a can via a valve, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,646 issued to Dubiel et al. involving a dispenser for soft food having a piston threaded to the bottom end, a spring biased actuator, and a valve for opening and closing an outlet, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,055 issued to Capra et al. involving a non-aerosol pressurized dispenser having a chamber and a piston reciprocable therein, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,353 issued to Capra et al. involving a dispensing device for discharging material under pressure, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,150 issued to Williams involving a spray dispenser including a bellow and a piston, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,084 issued to Jinotti involving a fluid dispensing apparatus having two box-like chambers, a plastic bag, a drive plate and a plurality of springs disposed under the plate to apply pressure, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,966 issued to Czech involving a spraying apparatus having internal chamber selectively pressurized by a pressurizing device, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,749 issued to Oyler et al. involving a self-contained beverage dispensing system for dispensing both carbonated and non-carbonated mixed beverages, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,456 issued to Goldstein involving a regulated dispensing system having a coil spring made of a shape memory alloy and a pressure plate, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,083 issued to Joulia involving a pressure relief system for a pressurized container.
However, each of these pressurized containers are relatively complex in structure and are not easily reusable. As such, there exists a need for a simple, economical, easy to use, re-useable portable pressurized fluid container. The present invention provides a method and apparatus to meet such needs.